Markit raises $1.3bn in IPO

19 June 2014 | 3932 views | 0

Financial data outfit Markit has raised $1.3 billion in an initial public offering after increasing the number of shares sold.

The firm offered 53.5 million shares - up from the originally planned 45.7 million - at $24 a share, the midpoint of the $23 to $25 range previously set. This gives Markit - which is listing on the Nasdaq - a market value of around $4.5 billion.

The shares are being offloaded by 12 of Markit's bank owners, which include Bank of America Corp, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. The company will not receive the proceeds

Founded in 2003, Markit has grown to rival Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg as a third force in the provision of financial information to banks worldwide and now claims more than 3000 institutional customers.

The firm has expanded beyond its initial focus of providing pricing for the credit markets through a series of acquisitions to include post-trade processing, risk analytics and, most recently, KYC services.